This easy pizza dough recipe is great for beginners and produces a soft homemade pizza crust. Skip the pizza delivery because you only need 6 basic ingredients to begin!
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
Every great pizza begins with a great pizza crust. Some like it thin and crispy, while others prefer a thick and soft crust. This homemade pizza crust has it all: soft & chewy with a delicious crisp and AWESOME flavor. It’s my go-to pizza dough recipe and just a glance at the hundreds of reviews in the comments section tells me that it’s a favorite for many others too!
Easy Dough for Bread Beginners
This is a no-fuss dough recipe for beginners. You need just 6 basic ingredients, plus a little cornmeal for preparing the pan. (You can skip that if needed.) Most of the time is hands off as the dough rises. You might wonder… why waste the time when you can just buy frozen pizza dough? Frozen pizza dough is certainly convenient, but from-scratch crust has unbeatable flavor and texture that only comes from fresh dough. And you can use the dough for cheese breadsticks, too!
Reader, Andy, commented: “Super easy, super fast, super good! I don’t like doughy thick pizzas and I find with this recipe that I can make them thin and crunchy, I love how easy it is. I make pizza once or twice a month! Haven’t bought one for quite some time now! ★★★★★“
If you’ve ever made homemade bagels or sandwich bread, you can easily make pizza dough because it’s quicker, easier, and requires fewer steps.
Overview: Homemade Pizza Dough Ingredients
All pizza dough starts with the same basic ingredients: flour, yeast, water, salt, and olive oil. Here’s the breakdown of what I use in my homemade pizza crust recipe. The full printable recipe is below.
- Yeast: I use Platinum Yeast from Red Star. I have the best results when I use this instant yeast. The Platinum yeast is fantastic because its careful formula strengthens your dough and makes making working with yeast simple. You only need 1 standard packet of yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons) to get the job done.
- Water: I tested this pizza dough recipe with different amounts of water. 1 and 1/3 cups is the perfect amount. Use warm water to cut down on rise time, about 100-110°F. Anything over 130ºF kills the yeast.
- Flour: Use unbleached all-purpose white flour in this recipe. Bleaching the flour strips away some of the protein, which will affect how much water the flour absorbs. You can substitute bread flour for a chewier pizza crust. If you love whole grain bread, try this whole wheat pizza dough instead.
- Oil: A couple Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil adds wonderful flavor to the dough. Don’t forget to brush the dough with olive oil before adding the toppings, which prevents the crust from tasting soggy.
- Salt: Salt adds necessary flavor.
- Sugar: 1 Tablespoon of sugar increases the yeast’s activity and tenderizes the dough, especially when paired with a little olive oil.
- Cornmeal: Cornmeal isn’t in the dough, but it’s used to dust the pizza pan. Cornmeal gives the pizza crust a little extra flavor and crisp. Most delivery pizzas you enjoy have cornmeal on the bottom crust!
You could also add 1 teaspoon each garlic powder and Italian seasoning blend to the dough when you add the flour.
Reader, Shane, commented: “Excellent pizza dough. I add about 1 tbs of garlic powder and Italian herbs to give the dough more flavor as well as 40 grams of cornmeal for a little crunch. It freezes well and makes a nice thin crust. ★★★★★“
This is a Lean Bread Dough
Pizza crust, like homemade bagels, artisan bread, and focaccia, requires a lean dough. A lean dough doesn’t use eggs or butter. Without the extra fat to make the dough soft, you’re promised a crusty pizza crust. (However, I recommend using some olive oil for flavor and to keep the interior on the softer side.) Recipes like dinner rolls, homemade breadsticks, and overnight cinnamon rolls require fat to yield a “rich dough,” which creates a softer and more dessert-like bread.
Overview: How to Make Easy Pizza Dough
- Make the dough: Mix the dough ingredients together by hand or use a hand-held or stand mixer. Do this in steps as described in the written recipe below.
- Knead: Knead by hand or with your mixer. I like doing this by hand. If you’re new to yeasted doughs, my How to Knead Dough post and video can help with this step.
- Rise: Place dough into a greased mixing bowl, cover tightly, and set aside to rise for about 90 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Punch & shape: Punch down risen dough to release air bubbles. Divide in 2. Roll dough out into a 12-inch circle. Cover and rest as you prep the pizza toppings.
- Top it: Top with favorite pizza toppings.
- Bake: Bake pizza at a very high temperature for only about 15 minutes.
Young bakers can lend a hand AND have fun in the process. Let the kids help you press down the dough and shape into a circle. They can add their cheeses and make pepperoni faces on top of the pie. Who doesn’t love a smiley pizza? 🙂
Favorite Pizza Pans
Let me share my top choices for pizza pans just in case you’re shopping for a new one. I use and love (affiliate links) this one and this one. If you like baking your homemade pizzas on pizza stones, I’ve used this one before and it’s wonderful.
If you don’t have a pizza pan, use a regular sheet pan. Grease it with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal as directed below, and then press the dough into whatever shape that will fit. Make sure the dough is about 1/2-inch thick. For a thinner pizza, stretch the dough out more.
FAQ: How Can I Make The Dough Ahead of Time?
Prepare the dough through step 3 below, but allow the dough to rise for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator. (If it needs to be in the refrigerator for longer, use cooler water in the dough which will slow the dough’s rise and allow for more time.) As a bonus, the slow rise gives the pizza dough wonderful flavor! When ready, continue with step 5 in the recipe below (the shaping step). If the dough didn’t quite double in size when rising, let it sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before shaping.
FAQ: How Do I Freeze Homemade Pizza Dough?
This recipe yields two 12-inch pizzas. After the pizza dough rises and you divide the dough in half (step 5), you can freeze one of the balls of dough to make pizza at a later time. Or you can simply freeze both balls of dough separately. Lightly coat all sides of the dough ball(s) with nonstick spray or olive oil. Place the dough ball(s) into individual zipped-top bag(s) and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months.
FAQ: How Do I Thaw Frozen Pizza Dough?
Place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight. When ready to make pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter. Continue with step 5 in the recipe below.
Uses for Homemade Pizza Dough
Here are the many uses for this homemade pizza dough:
- Extra Cheese Pizza & Stuffed Crust Pizza
- Pesto Pizza (pictured above)
- Homemade Ham & Cheese Pockets
- Pepperoni Pizza Rolls
- Stromboli
- Spinach Artichoke White Pizza
- Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Garlic Knots
- Margherita style: For 2 pizzas, when it’s time to top it in step 6 below, top with the following. (Feel free to halve for only 1 pizza.) Make a homemade tomato sauce by blending 1 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, pinch of salt, and 2 minced cloves of garlic. Spread on shaped doughs. Top each with 2-3 ounces thinly sliced fresh mozzarella. Bake as directed, and then sprinkle each hot pizza with 2 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese and a handful of roughly chopped fresh basil.
- Apple gorgonzola pizza is a favorite: For 1 pizza, when it’s time to top it in step 6 below, top with 1 and 1/2 cups (6oz or 168g) shredded mozzarella cheese, 8 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese, thin slices of apple, then sprinkle with chopped fresh or dried rosemary before baking.
- Or any other pizza topping you love: pepperoni, crumbled sausage, black olives, onions, mushrooms, jalapeños, etc
Here are my flatbread pizza crust, whole wheat pizza dough, and cold veggie pizza recipes.
PrintEasy Homemade Pizza Dough
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 12-inch pizzas
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Follow these basic instructions for a thick, crisp, and chewy pizza crust at home. The recipe yields enough pizza dough for two 12-inch pizzas and you can freeze half of the dough for later. Close to 2 pounds of dough total.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/3 cups (320ml) warm water (between 100-110°F, 38-43°C)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) Platinum Yeast from Red Star instant yeast (1 standard packet)*
- 1 Tablespoon (13g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) olive oil, plus more for pan and brushing on dough
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 and 1/2 cups (about 450g) unbleached all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and surface
- sprinkle of cornmeal for dusting the pan
Instructions
- Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in the next step.
- Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray—just use the same bowl you used for the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size. (Tip: For the warm environment on a particularly cold day, heat your oven to 150°F (66°C). Turn the oven off, place the dough inside, and keep the door slightly ajar. This will be a warm environment for your dough to rise. After about 30 minutes, close the oven door to trap the air inside with the rising dough. When it’s doubled in size, remove from the oven.)
- Preheat oven to 475°F (246°C). Allow it to heat for at least 15-20 minutes as you shape the pizza. (If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven to preheat as well.) Lightly grease baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray or olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal, which gives the crust extra crunch and flavor.
- Shape the dough: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. (If not making 2 pizzas, freeze half of the dough for another time. See freezing instructions below.) On a lightly floured work surface using lightly floured hands or rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a disc. Place on prepared pan and, using lightly floured hands, stretch and flatten the disc into a 12-inch circle, about 1/2-inch thick. If the dough keeps shrinking back as you try to stretch it, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly for 5-10 minutes, then try again. Once shaped into a 12-inch circle, lift the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges. I simply pinch the edges up to create the rim. If using a pizza stone, place the dough directly on baker’s peels dusted with cornmeal.
- Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for a few minutes as you prepare your pizza toppings. I suggest pepperoni & green peppers or jalapeño slices, extra cheese pizza, Hawaiian pizza, pesto pizza, spinach artichoke white pizza, or homemade BBQ chicken pizza.
- Top & bake the pizza: Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. To prevent the filling from making your pizza crust soggy, brush the top lightly with olive oil. Top with your favorite toppings and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
- Slice hot pizza and serve immediately. Cover leftover pizza tightly and store in the refrigerator. Reheat as you prefer. Baked pizza slices can be frozen up to 3 months.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: This recipe yields enough dough for two 12-inch pizzas, a little less than 2 pounds total. After the pizza dough rises and you divide the dough in half (step 5), you can freeze one of the balls of dough to make pizza at a later time. Or you can simply freeze both balls of dough separately. Lightly coat all sides of the dough ball(s) with nonstick spray or olive oil. Place the dough ball(s) into individual zipped-top bag(s) and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight. When ready to make pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 1 hour on the counter. Preheat the oven and continue with step 5, punching down the dough to release air if needed.
- Overnight/All Day Instructions: Prepare the dough through step 3, but allow the dough to rise for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator. (If it needs to be in the refrigerator for longer, use cooler water in the dough which will slow the dough’s rise and allow for more time.) The slow rise gives the pizza dough wonderful flavor! When ready, continue with step 4. If the dough didn’t quite double in size overnight, let it sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before punching down (step 5).
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer or Large Mixing Bowl and Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Dough Scraper | Pizza Pan or Baking Sheet | Pastry Brush | Pizza Cutter
- Yeast: Red Star Platinum yeast is an instant yeast. You can use active dry yeast instead. The rise time will be at least 90 minutes. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Pictured Pizza: This recipe yields 2 pizzas. For each, top with 1/2 cup pizza sauce, 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni slices, thinly sliced green pepper or jalapeño, and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning blend or dried basil.
Recipe originally published on Sally’s Baking Addiction in 2013
I’m wondering if adding grated Parmesan cheese would work with this dough.?
Absolutely! I wouldn’t go overboard, but up to 1/3 or 1/2 cup should be fine.
Always consistently happy pizza nights
Can I replace all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour?
Hi Lisa, we haven’t tested that substitution so we’re unsure of the results. Although some readers report using an all-purpose 1:1 gluten-free flour in many of our recipes with success, you should expect slightly different results anytime you substitute ingredients. Let us know if you give it a try!
I have made this dough twice. The first time it was excellent. This time it is too wet after the kneading time. I was careful to measure the ingredients. The same thing happed a few weeks ago when I was making cinnamon rolls. I added more flour and they came out fine so I tried the same thing with the pizza dough. I am trying to figure out what is going wrong. I am using Aldi All Purpose flour. Is it possible that the flour is causing the problem?
Hi Ann! There are a lot of variables that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity in the air. There’s nothing wrong with adding just a little more flour to bring the dough into a less sticky and knead-able consistency.
Hi Ann, I wonder if Trader Joe’s and Aldi get their flour from the same manufacturer? I had the same issue with their AP flour in several recipes. Everything was just wet and needed extra flour. Leading to a dense crumb. I tossed the TJs flour and returned to my usual King Arthur Unbleached AP and everything was fine. The recipes I tried were not new to me, they were standards that I’m confident making. Bought the TJs flour out of convenience, won’t do that again. Happy baking!
This is now my go to dough recipe. It works perfectly for my 16 inch deep pan.
I would like to have a pizza making party with 8-10 people, and was wanting to prepare the dough on half sheet pans for 2 or 3 people to share per pan. How many half sheet pans will this recipe cover? Will one recipe cover two half sheet pans? Also, when you make pizza, do you pre-cook bacon and sausage. Do you pre-cook veggies like green pepper, mushrooms and onions. If offering spinach, can you use frozen? Thank you.
Hi Patti, This recipe makes enough for 2 12-inch pizzas. Definitely use cooked bacon or sausage. We usually pre-cook/sauté mushrooms and onions if using them on pizza. Emjoy!
Just perfect! I split the dough into 4 personal pie portions. I made about a 9 inch round and baked it for 10 minutes. It was thin and crisp but still sturdy enough for toppings. Very excited to have 3 more servings in the freezer!
I found this pizza dough recipe on a Google search. I have made it a dozen times and it really is an easy great tasting dough. It’s a go to for us now whenever the pizza craving it on. Thank you!
I want to thank you for this amazing recipe! This pizza was delicious! I will keep this recipe and definitely make it again.
Can you use OO pizza flour with this recipe? Getting ready to try it and wondering if anyone has tried it with the OO flour
Hi Dehn, Pizza flour typically has a higher protein level and forms a stronger gluten network. It creates a chewier pizza crust. We published this recipe with all-purpose flour since it’s more commonly used in kitchens, but you can use either with no changes to the recipe. Enjoy!
Can you use pizza flour with this recipe
This dough recipe was absolutely perfect! I have tried so many over the years, and been happy with some, but this will be what I use from now on! So simple but so delicious. Perfect texture. Just… perfect.
Amazing recipe! Everyone in the house agrees. Made two batches not knowing each batch makes enough for 2 crusts. Happily have 2 crusts ready for a crazy weekend night quick meal. Thanks so much!!!
I’m new to yeast baking. Tried this recipe and it was wonderful! Added teaspoon of garlic powder & Italian herb mix to flour. Saw that suggestion in another Sally recipe! Was fabulous. Froze the other half & looking forward to another pizza night. No more frozen!!!!
It turned out so good and was gone so fast. Thank you for another excellent recipe! Do you happen to have/know a good yeast-free pizza dough recipe?
Hi Laura! I’m glad to read you enjoy this pizza dough recipe. I don’t have a recipe for pizza dough without yeast, but would be curious to try one if you find a favorite.
This dough is amazing! So easy to throw together but most importantly it tastes delicious. Thanks Sally…this is a keeper!
This is the BEST pizza dough and so simple. It is my go to now and I don’t use any other, nor have a desire to. I love it!
This is probably one of the best/easiest pizza crust recipes I’ve tried. I will say I do leave it proofing longer, like 30-60 min longer.. and it comes out insane.. I also measure the ingredients now in weight vs cups. I realized the cup measurement was less reliable especially with the flour. Weighing the ingredients has made a more consistent crust every time. Overall, it’s perfect.
I love your recipes! I am hoping to use this recipe for a children’s pizza party. If I split the dough’s into four 6” inch pizzas, would I bake them for the same amount of time and could I bake them all in the same oven (two per cookie sheet), maybe switching them half way)? Any advice/tips would be welcome!
Hi Anna, you can certainly make smaller pizzas with this recipe. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but keep a close eye on them and remove when the crust is lightly browned and the cheese has fully melted. You can bake as many as can fit on one rack at the same time — we don’t recommend baking on separate racks as they’ll bake at different rates. Hope they’re a hit at the birthday party!
Lexi – Thank you so much for your reply! I did a dry-run over the weekend and 12-13 minutes seemed like the right bake time for the four 6” pizzas (all baked on pizza stones next to each other on the same rack). They did puff up more than expected in the oven, but I’m thinking I didn’t punch all the air out after letting them rise in the fridge, so I’m going to roll them out for the actual party. The flavor was a huge hit!
Great pizza dough recipe! One of the best ones I’ve tried, if not the best! Thank you! I enjoy every recipe of yours I’ve made.
I doubled the recipe and used 2 half size restaurant style cookie sheers and it came out perfect.
Made this last night for me and a friend and it was so delicious and easy, especially since I could do it all in my stand mixer. I did decrease the amount of sugar by about half and it still worked. I will definitely be making this again!
I found the dough too dry when using the conversion rate recommended for cups to ounces and millilitres (being from the UK I’ve never used ‘cups’). I was cooking for 7 people so doubled the recipe. As someone who regularly cooks and bakes, I used sunflower oil instead of olive oil, didn’t have olive oil in the house, and enriched the dough with a beaten egg and a dash of milk plus fresh not dried yeast. Pizzas came out of the oven perfect. Thanks for the guide.
Love this recipe. Have made it a few times and it always comes out great. I always split and freeze half. Love having it ready for another meal. Crust is thin and crispy, just the way I like it.
I think this is the first time I’ve made pizza dough. It turned out great. Made it for New Years Eve with my grandsons and split half into half agin for them to have their own personal pan pizza in 9 inch cake pans and made one 12 inch or so pie with other half. I would coat crust with oil seasoning next time, but other than that it was delicious. I’d leave photos if I could because they looked great too!
This crust comes out both fluffy and crisp. It’s always a hit with friends and family!
So I probably won’t get a reply soon but I’ma ask anyways, so I’ve finished the dough balls and I make these at the middle of night so I wanna store not cook rn so is it okay if I just leave it in the fridge since I’m going to take it out soon?
Hi Michael, see the Overnight/All Day Instructions in the recipe notes. Enjoy!
Is it possible to divide this in 3 balls to make a really thin crust?
Hi Isabel, Absolutely, just roll the dough out thinner. Or, for better results, use our flatbread dough. The rise time is shorter.
Can i substitute the olive oil for a different oil please?
Hi Jen, We find that olive oil produces the best flavor, but you can try replacing the olive oil with a neutral flavored oil such as canola or vegetable oil if desired.
Made this tonight and it was amazing!!! Thank you for all your great recipes
I’ve made pizza crust before and never had a problem, but this one came out incredibly dry. I’m not sure where I went wrong.
Hi Rita! How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
I love this recipe and make it all the time but have never used the make ahead instructions. For make ahead, it says to follow through step 3 then allow to rise in the fridge for 8-12 hrs. So is one supposed to proof in the oven like is mentioned in step 3 or just skip and rise in the fridge? Thank you!
Hi Lauren, you will let the dough rise at room temperature or in the oven as mentioned in step 3, and then place the risen dough in the fridge for the slow overnight rise. Hope this helps!
Thank you!! Sally’s Baking New Year’s Pizza it is!